Hybrid Child
by Nelly-Sempai
Summary: Ichigo works as a scientist for the government and is forced to look after their new experiment;a new type of human hybrid called Shirosaki.But is being a long term babysitter really as easy as it seems? Bleach AU. Bad summary. First story!
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Ichigo works as a scientist for the government and is forced to look after their new experiment; a new type of human hybrid called Shirosaki. Watch Ichigo as he goes through the struggles of being a parent. But is being a long term babysitter really as easy as it sounds? Bleach AU. Kinda angst-y in the middle but I don't like sad endings.**

~Hybrid Child, Chapter One~

Once again Ichigo woke up to the sound of his alarm ringing too loudly, his orange hair being too unruly and his coffee being too cold. Working for the Department of Research and Biological Development was never his dream job, but the work was simple enough and it paid well. When Ichigo finished school he always thought he'd be doing something else a little more… Well, that was the problem, he just didn't know.

He expected his job to be useful to others, so at least he could go home with a sense of accomplishment. But as of lately, he couldn't even find it in himself to be interested. What Ichigo never expected was to be called in to his Director's office one morning to be told, for all intents and purposes, that he was gonna become a mommy.

"…Uh, what now?"

"For the last time, Kurosaki…" Uryu Ishida sighed and pushed his glasses a little further up his nose. "I said, that you have been selected to take part in a long-term experiment. That you are to become the primary care giver to one of the Hybrid Species that the Genome Department has been working on."

"So, in plain Japanese, you're making adopt… something."

"A biologically constructed human hybrid, yes."

"Right." Said Ichigo, "Do I even get a choice in this?"

"You can take part in this _or_ you can lose your job." Ishida smirked at the immediate scowl on Ichigo face, "You're choice completely."

"Okay, okay. Just tell me why _I'm _the one who has to do this again?"

"Well aside from Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who was more than willing, you seemed a more suitable candidate."

"…because?"

"What we are studying is how such a creature will react to normal human behaviour. Kurotsuchi can hardly be deemed as normal let alone human. This is based on the types of experimentation he does on his subjects, all of which border on torture."

Ichigo had to agree there. He had seen the people who worked under Kurotsuchi. They always start off looking happy and excited but all look traumatized by the end of the week.

"What does it eat?" He asked suddenly.

"Well, since it has the same biological composition as an normal child his age just give him the basic diet of the average human infant."

"Uhh, meaning?"

"Usually a baby gets milk from its mother about 8-10 times a day."

"From its mom? But I can't do that! I'm not exactly 'equipped' am I?"

Ishida strongly resisted the urge to face-palm as he wondered, not for the first time in his life, how in hell did Ichigo managed to get this job in the first place. He was the dumbest-smart person Ishida knew and throughout their career working together he had many examples proving just that. Even in high school, Ichigo had aced every test handed to him, always in the top 30 of his schools rank order, however he remained oblivious to the busty girl who used to follow him around school like a love struck puppy. It was so obvious how much she liked him but he never noticed. Stupid, right?

"Kurosaki!" Ishida takes a deep breath "I am NOT suggesting that you breastfeed the infant yourself. You will be given instructions with everything needed to cater to the child's needs including milk formula!"

"I see..." Ichigo raised an eyebrow at Uryu's little outburst, "So when am I expecting the little bundle of joy?"

"Monday at nine sharp. Make sure to clear out your spare room. And for God's sake do something about that hair of yours!"

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><p>Just as Uryu promised, Ichigo heard a loud knock Monday at nine a.m. At the door were two men Ichigo had recognised from work, Kisuke Urahara and Byakuya Kuchiki. Byakuya was carrying two large bags packed with baby stuff and in Urahara's arms was a little squirming bundle all wrapped in blue.<p>

"Congrats on your new baby boy!" Urahara whispered loudly as he placed the sleeping baby in Ichigo arms. Ichigo tried to scowl at the man but his face softened when tiny fingers clutched Ichigo's shirt and snuggled closer into the orangette's chest. For the first time, Ichigo noticed the little tufts of snow-white hair surrounding the babies head. He was a pale child; much lighter than anyone Ichigo had ever seen before but he still seemed healthy… and absolutely adorable.

"He's cute, right?" said Urahara as he gently poked the baby's button nose "He hardly makes a sound but I suppose that'll change once he's hungry again."

Ichigo tightened his hold around the baby. None of this seemed to be real until the child was actually placed into his arms. Ichigo knew what he was getting himself in for, he just never thought he'd feel so obligated. Who'd of thought that something artificially created could look so… human.

"I will remind you _both_ that this is a critical scientific observation which needs to be taken seriously. Despite appearances this creature is most certainly not human and requires constant care and attention. This will be the sole responsibility of you, Kurosaki."

"Oh come on, Kuchiki-san, don't be so stiff. He knows what to do, right Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo nodded and shifted the child so he was resting more comfortably. "Um, what's his name?"

"It is called Hybrid Experiment #2.5." Byakuya answered.

"But I'm guessing you might want to rename something a little less complicated than that, ne?"

"Here are some rules and guidelines for you to follow, we're hoping that based on your experience of caring for your younger sisters this shouldn't be to hard for you." Byakuya sighed and handed Ichigo some papers. "If there's anything else you need assistance with you are to call us right away. Kisuke, we really should get going now."

Checking the time himself, Ichigo realised that they had been here for quite a while. Byakuya and Urahara had stayed for nearly 2 hours explaining to Ichi about his "Do's and Don'ts" but Ichigo soon blanked them out, opting to stare at the little being sleeping on his lap. It was amazing, the things that science could do and once more Ichigo was glad to be apart of it.

"We'll be back in a few months to check your progress! Bye Mommy!" Kisuke escaped out the door before Ichigo could throw a milk bottle to back of his head.

_Stupid old man._

Since the hybrid was still fast asleep Ichigo decided to put him in his crib. It had taken him and Renji fours hours to put the stupid thing together and there was no way his work was going to waste.

Ichigo placed him down and loosened the blanket so the baby could move if it needed to. Ichigo poked him gently but apart from a small snuffling sound there was no movement from the child. He stared at the quiet bundle for a few more moments, walking around the crib a few times to look at him further before ultimately deciding he was bored. Eventually he slid down and sat with his back to the child just hearings its little murmurs through its sleep. Ichigo sighed and turned his head around quickly in case the hybrid moved while he wasn't looking but there was no movement.

_Well, this is gonna be fun..._

He wished Kisuke would come back sooner.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, that's it for the first chapter of my first story! It isn't much but I got lots and lots and lots of ideas for this, so there will be a plot eventually. In the next chapter, Shiro will be a little older and I'll put it up ASAP. Thanks for stopping by and pleas W! . I need to know if I did good or not.**

**My first reviewer gets a cookie! With sprinkles! xD **

**~Nellz-x**


	2. Chapter 2

~Hybrid Child, Chapter Two~

A lot of time has passed. Over the last few months Ichigo had noticed many things that made the hybrid different from other normal infants. At six months old, the baby could already sit up without any help and used his tiny fingers to pull _anything_ within reach into his mouth. He'd also gotten into the habit of calling Ichigo '_Mama'_ (Thanks to a great deal of encouragement from Mr Hat and Clogs) which was something the Ichigo wasn't exactly happy but the kid wouldn't listen no matter how much Ichigo tried to correct him.

One night, Ichigo was about give the kid his supper when he heard an ominous knock at the door. Placing the infant safely into his playpen for the time being, Ichi went to open door. At first, he didn't think there was anyone there but then he saw something fast hurtling towards him from the corner of his eye.

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICHIIIGOOOOOOO! MY SO-"

Isshin Kurosaki. Ichigo simply took a step to the left as his father continued to travel through the space he had just occupied, only to smash into the wall behind.

"Stupid Goatface." Ichigo had had it up to the moon and back with his dad's antics. "Why can't you ever just say 'hi' like a normal pers- _ooof!_"

"Aha, you must be getting rusty, my son!" Isshin had grabbed Ichigo down with him and succeeded in pinning him to the floor. "You must always be ready for attack no. 2!"

"I don't think so." Ichigo immediatley flipped the switch and now held Isshin in an judo armlock. "What the hell are you doing here anyway, crazy old man."

"Well, forgive me for getting a little crazy when I found out -_ow!-_ that my only son has been hiding a potentail grandson from his aunts and Ojiisan!"

"Yeah, why didn't you tell us, Ichi-nii?" Karin appeared at the doorway with a slightly teary-eyed Yuzu behind her. Dear God. Through all the pain and hard-ships Ichigo went through in his life nothing brought him to his knees quicker than Yuzu's tears. His twin sisters, Karin and Yuzu were almost polar opposites of each other; with one being happy and affectionate and the other being rather reserved and stoic, yet both were as passionate as the other. Ichigo released his dad as Yuzu came forward.

"Nii-san, is it true?" cried Yuzu, the tears threatening to fall from her face, "Urahara-san called and said you'd adopted a baby and that you were gonna be looking after him from now on but that was over 6 months ago... W-w-why haven't you said anything to us yet?" Ichigo's knees twitched as Yuzu sniffed dangerously, this could get ugly.

"Wah, wait Yuzu! I didn't do it on purpose, I've just been really busy with looking after him and work - which now I guess is kind of the the same thing... " Ichigo scratched the back of his head nervously as Yuzu glared back at him sullenly. Luckily Shiro saved the day by gurgling to himself from the other side of the room.

"So, he's here?" Yuzu asked, her eyes bright and happy again. It was like she had an On and Off tears switch or something.

"Err, yeah" answered Ichigo, pointing to the pen in the corner, "He's right over there."

The infant - who had been observing the noise quietly this time - watched as Yuzu and Karin came closer. The baby blinked curiously at the two people who both looked so much like _Mama_ but also so different. The babe tried to pull himself up to see his aunts better, but only managed to keep falling on his butt every time. Even Karin couldn't help but smile at that.

"Awe, he soooo cute, Nii-san!" Yuzu reached out and placed her fingers in his ivory white and marveled at how soft it was. "He looks _just_ like you, only lighter and smaller, of course."

"Yeah, he does kinda look like you, Ichi-nii!" Said Karin with a smile as she lightly poked the lil guy's nose.

"What's this?" Isshin had promptly decided he'd had enough of being quiet. "Ahaa, the Kurosaki genes are so strong that even those not born directly into the family shall harness the power! Masakiii! If she were still alive would be so prooooooud- _ow!"_

A small blue and white rattle rebounded off Isshin's head and crashed to the floor. Everyone turned to look at the tiny culprit who was smiling innocently up to everybody else. Ichigo was the first to start laughing, and once the baby joined in it was too hard not laugh.

"_Well, Masaki.._." Isshin Kurosaki mused as he rubbed the slightly sore spot on his head. "_That's our first Grandson._"

* * *

><p>A few weeks later, Ichigo realised that he hadn't heard from Byakuya or Kisuke since they first dropped the child off all those months ago. He was beginning to wonder if he'd been forgotten about when he heard his cellphone ring. He scooped up the kid and placed him on the couch next to him as he answered Kisuke's phone call.<p>

"Ichigo! How's it going for our new Momma?"

"I'm not a Momma, dammit!" The lil guy giggled at Ichigo outburst and repeated his new favourite word, causing Ichigo to drag his palm down his face.

"Mama! Mama!"

"Whoa…" came Urahara's surprised voice, "Was that the kid? There's no way he should be speaking that early."

"Well, he's not exactly speaking, just repeating some of the things I say. I don't think he really understands it. Didn't you say before that Hybrids develop faster than humans?"

"Faster, yes. But not _that _fast. This needs to be noted."

Ichigo unconsciously brought his hand down to smooth the kid's hair. "Do I need to be worried about anything?" Ichigo knew that if anything went wrong the kid would be taken any from him – whether it was Ichigo's fault or not. You would never believe it just by looking but Ichigo was really starting to get attached to the kid; after looking after him for almost a year now, how could he not be?

"No, no. If anything this is a good thing. It shows he's learning a lot from you." Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief.

"So…" Urahara's curiosity got the better of him, "what did you decide to call the him in the end?"

It had been about a month down the line when Ichigo realised that he couldn't keep referring to it as "the kid" especially not if this was going to be a long-term thing. He finally came up with a decent name and he'd be damned if he said he didn't like it.

"I call him Shiro… Shirosaki."

It wasn't exactly original, considering his own name, but the kid smiled for the first time when he said it. Ichigo would never forget that smile as long as he lived.

It took Ichigo a while to come out of his reverie and to realised that Kisuke was laughing at him.

"Hey! He's my kid and I'll call him what I want, Baka!" Ichi was about to hang up his phone when he felt the kid tugging on his arm.

"What's that? You want to say something to the silly old man, Shiro?"

"Ba… Ba-ba… Baka!"

"Good boy, now let's go get you a cookie."

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><p><strong>END <strong>

**Now that took a whole lot longer than I thought it would but I'm glad I got it done.**

I'd like to point out, that I had no clue as to how a baby develops from 0-12months. I tried to research somethings but I couldn't really find out any precise info. Feel free to correct me if I got anything wrong.

The first cookie goes to **TealEyedBeing **thanks so much for giving me my first review, go get yourself a cookie! =D

And thanks for reading... **R E V I E W **please? .


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